Smelting apparatus.



No. 734,594. I PATENTED JULY 28, 1903. P. NAEP.

SMELTING APPARATUS. APPLIGATION FILED APR; 24, 1900;

W/TNESSES /N VEN T 0R u: Norms Fergus no. pHoro-urna.. wAanlNGvcN, D, c.

atented July 28, 1908;.' l' l PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL NAEF, oFNEw YORK, N. Y.

SMELTNGAPPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION lforming part of Letters Patent No. 734,594, dated July28, 1903.

Original application filed September 25, 1897, SerialvNo. 653,015.Divided andlapplioation filed ,T une 17, 1898, Serial No. 683,680. Againdivided and this application iiled April24, 1900. Serial No. 14,132. (Nomodel.)

i T0 all wiz/011e it may concern,.-

Beit known that LPAUL NAEF,of New York city, in vthe county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvementsin Smeltiug Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in lthe artv to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to smelting apparatus, the same being shown anddescribed in my application for patent for smelting ores and recoveringvaluable by-products, Serial No. csacsos, filed June 17, 189s, of whichVthis application is a division, said application Serial No. 683,68@being a division of application Serial No. 653,015, filed September 25,

Objects of the invention are to combine the manufacture of pig-iron inblast-furnaces and the manufacture of coke and by-products; to recoverthe cyanids formed in theY blast-furnace as such or as ammonia; tomanufacture a high-grade heating or illuminating gas as a by-product ofthe blast-furnace process; toV

economize fuel inthe blast-furnace by some of the blast-furnace gases toa greater eX- tent than usual; to keep the upper part of theblast-furnace at a lower temperature, and` thus avoid secondaryreaction; to make theV production of iron andthe coking of coal,

the calcination of limestone, the recovery of sists in taking hot gasesfrom blast-furnaces,

preferably before the destruction of. much cyanid has taken place. Thegases are utilized for the production of coke in such a way `trogenonscompounds of the coke. Preferably the coking apparatus is made of such asize that it will produce all the coke recovered by the blast-furnace.The hot gases are lwithdrawn from the blast-furnace some distance abovethe tw'vers and are conductedthrough an opening in the periphery into abricklined annular channel encircling the furnace. From this channel apipe conducts the gases into an annular channel encircling thecoking-furnace and through ducts into said furnace. These ducts arearrangedb at such a height that coke can be withdrawn at the bottom oftheapparatus without the escape ofgas or steam. The part of the cokingapparatus below the gas-entrance is used for the production of ammoniafrom the nitrogenous compounds of the coke by the action of steam on thered-hot coke and for the cooling of the coke by means of steam andwater. The steam causes, further, a decomposition of cyanid withformation of ammonia, which reaction can be expressed contained in theincandescent gases will pass through the limekiln without decomposition.

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As a large volume of gas is withdrawn from the blast-furnace for cokingcoal, the remainder of the gas will pass through the upper part of thefurnace at a lower speed and there will be a more complete conversion of.carbonic oxid to carbonio acid by the action of the iron ore. Inblast-furnaces worked in the ordinary way practically all the reductionof iron oxid takes place in a space of about fifteen feet from the topof the furnace; but as the charge descends reoxidation takes place to alarge extent by such reactions re+co,=reo+co,

caused by-too high a temperature. High temperature causes, further, anincrease in fuel consumption by the action of carbonio acid on the cokein the upper part of the furnace As with the new process described amuch smaller volume of gas will pass through the upper part of thefurnace, the reduction of iron oxid will take place at a lowertemperature and the secondary actions described will take place to amuch less extent. After the charge reaches the point below the offtakeof the incandescent gases it will suddenly be raised to a temperature atwhich lthe metal melts. A further economy of fuel will be effected bythe gas leaving the blast-furnace at a much lower temperature, becauseless heat has to be intercepted in the upper part of the furnace. If newblast-furnaces are erected for my process, they can therefore be builtof smaller height. A separate apparatus of similar construction as thecoking apparatus can be employed for the reduction of the ore by meansof hot gas from the blastfurnace. The gas escapingv from this appatuswill be mostly carbonio acid, which can be run to waste or mixed withthegases entering the coking apparatus. If the ore is reduced in a separateapparatus, there is no necessity' for passing gas through the upper partof the blast-furnace. All the gas can be withv drawn at a lowerlevel,and the upper part of the blast-furnace can be made shorter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a vertical section of an apparatusdesigned for the process. Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of the cokingapparatus in its simplest form.

Referring to Fig. 1, 1 is a blast-furnace of ordinary construction. 2 isthe coking apparatus; 3, the apparatus for calcining the li mestone. Hotgases are taken from the blastfurnace through ducts 4, which lead into abrick channel 5, encircling the furnace. This channel has openings 6 forblowing out dust when necessary. lt is connected to the coking apparatus2 and the calcining apparatus 3by the pipe 7. VVater-cooled dampers 8and 9 are arranged to shut off the hot gases from the coking andcalcining apparatus, if desired.

The coking apparatus consists of a shaft 10 supported on pillars 11.

It is here shown with a conical bottom 12 and doors 13, through whichthe coke is discharged. It is charged with the coal by conveyer 14 fromthe hopper above. Thehotgasisintroducedthroughthe annular channel 15 andducts 16. The gas, containing ammonia and tar, leaves through pipe 17,which conducts it to any suitable washing apparatus. (Notshown.) Thepart of the coking apparatus below the ducts 16 is used for producingammonia from the nitrogenous compounds of the coke by the action ofsteam and for cooling the coke. The steam is introduced through numerouspipes 19 and 'the water through pipes 18. The coke is crushed andcontinuously discharged by the rollers 12a. It drops into thestoragehopper 20, which is connected at the bottom to a conveyer 21.,which delivers the coke into hopper 22. The inlets of gas and steam tothe coking apparatus are arranged at such a height that the resistanceto the passage of gas upward and downward is about the same. Coke cantherefore be withdrawn from the bottom vwithout escape of gas or steam.

In regard to the coking process and apparatus therefor reference is madeto my applications Serial No. 650,761, September 7, 1897, and subdividedfrom that application Serial No. 668,779, February l, 1898, and SerialNo. 668,780, February 1, 1898.

The limekiln 3 consists of a shaft 23, supported on pillars 24. It ischarged with limestone from hopper 25 by a conveyer 26. Hot gas from theblast-furnace is introduced through the annular channel 27 and ducts 28.The burnt lime is withdrawn from the conical bottom 20 through the doors30 into the storage-hopper 31. From hopper 31 it is fed into hopper 22by conveyer 32. The iron ore is fed into storage-hopper 22 from 33 bycon veyer 34, and the suitable smelting mixture of lime, iron ore, andcoke is obtained by regulating.r speed of the conveyers 21 32 34. Thissmelting mixture is elevated into hopper 35 by the elevator 36, whichdischarges into the horizontal conveyer 37. The latter discharges thesmelting mixture into hopper 35, from which it is fed into theblast-furnace by means of conveyer 38. By this arrangement theoperations of coking, the calcining of the limestone, making thesmelting charge, elevating the same, and charging it into theblast-furnace are performed automatically. Instead of using a bell forcharging the blastfurnace, conveyer 38 is used, which dispenses entirelywith manual labor for charging. Hopper 33 is so arranged that the ironore can be dumped into it from railway-cars or from suitable ore-bins.

The water-cooled dampers 8 and 9 consist of a casing 39, into whichwater is run through pipes 40 and leaving through pipe 41. The damper 42is suspended on a pipe 43, which can be raised or lowered by anyconvenient means. Water is introduced into the damper 42 through thepipe 44 and leaves pipe 43 at discharge-pipe 45.

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Instead of the damper connected as above l described any well-known formof 'watercooled damper may be employed.

When the coking apparatus 2 and calciuing apparatus 3 are in operation,the dampers 42 are not in the reach of the intense heat, beingsurrounded by the water-cooled casing 39.

In Fig. 2 the coking apparatusconsists of a shaft 46, which ispreferably incased with sheet-iron 47. An annular channel 48 encirclesthe shaft, through which the incandescent gases pass -to the ducts 49.Coal is charged into the apparatus from hopper 50 by conveyer 5l.Ammonia is produced in the part of the apparatus below the entrance ofthe hot gas by the action of steam introduced through numerous pipes 53on the redhotl coke. The coke is further cooled by means of waterintroduced through pipes 52. In this form of the apparatus the coke isdischarged by manual labor through openings 54 and doors 55.

If the cyanid in the blast-furnace gases is to be recovered as such, nosteam is introduced into the coking apparatus. In such cases cyanid isabsorbed from the gases leaving the coking apparatus. It may be furtherstated that steam can be introduced into the lower part of the calciningapparatus 3 in a similar way as is shown in the coking apparatus 2 forthe purpose of converting the cyand contained in the blast-furnace gasesinto ammonia.

Itis an important feature of my invention that it enables the use ofbituminous coal in iron blast-furnaces without interfering with thecapacity of said furnaces. The general construction of the apparatus canbe varied as the case may require to obtain the best results withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having fully described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Smelting apparatus consisting of a blastfurnace, acoking-oven and alimekiln, means for conducting gas from the blast-furnace to thecoking-oven and the limekiln, means for mixing the solid products fromcoke-oven and the limekiln with ore, and means for conducting saidmixture to and discharging it into the blast-furnace.

2. Smelting apparatus consisting of a blastfurnace, a coke-oven and alimekiln, means for conducting gas from the blast-furnace to thecoke-oven and the limekiln and means for automatically mixing the solidproducts of said oven and kiln with ore and automatically feeding thewhole int'o the blast-furnace.

3. Smelting apparatus comprising a blastfurnace, a coke-oven anda'limekiln, a flue connecting the blast-furnace with the cokeoven andlimekiln for conveying gas thereto from the blast-furnace, water-cooledvalves for controlling the inlet of gasto said oven and kiln and meansfor conveying the solid products of said oven and kiln to theblastfurnace.

4. In smelting apparatus, the combination with a blast-furnace, acoke-oven and a limekiln and a flue for conducting hot gas from theblast-furnace to the coke-oven and the limekiln, hoppers under said ovenand kiln, feeders under said hoppers, an intermediate hopper adapted toreceive material from said feeders, an elevator for conducting materialfrom said intermediate hopper and means for feeding material from saidelevator into the blast-furnace.

5. The combination in smelting apparatus, of a blast-furnace, a cokingapparatus and a limekiln, means for supplying the coking apparatus andthe limekiln with heated gas from the blast-furnace and means forautomatically feeding the solid products from said coking apparatus andlimekiln simultaneously to the blast-furnace.

6. The combination in a smelting apparatus, of a blast-furnace, a cokingapparatus and a limekiln, means for supplying said coking apparatus andlimekiln with gas from the blast-furnace, a hopper below thedischargeoutlets of the coking. apparatus and limekiln, means forregulating the feed of the solid products from said coking apparatus andlimekiln to said hopper and means for feeding and regulating the feed ofmaterial in said hopper to the blast-furnace.

'7. In a'smelting apparatus, the combination of a blast-furnace, acoking apparatus and a limekiln, a due connecting the blastfurnace withthe coking'apparatus and the limekiln, a hopper between and below theoutlets of said coking apparatus and lime- IOO kiln, means forregulating the feed of material from thecoking apparatus and limekiln tosaid hopper, an elevator communicating with said hopper, a feed devicecommunicating with the elevator and with the top of the blast-furnaceand means for regulating the discharge of material from said feed device`into the top of the blast-furnace.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

O. E. LANGDON, GERRIT SMITH.

